Mhunchet is a project

Mhunchet centres on career development for hard-driving business managers:

  • Experienced managers reigniting the spark
  • New managers outrunning their peers
  • Future managers looking for the fast lane.

My ICPs are unconscionably ambitious, beyond what’s expected or even reasonable. They know about hard work. They forego friends, family and free time to feed their ambition.

If this describes you, keep reading.

I do this because, in my executive and governance roles, I see the same dumb mistakes made over and over. Some from fear, arrogance and laziness, but most from ignorance. Arrogance and laziness are character traits; those who wallow about get what they deserve.

Ignorance and fear are different. They can be overcome. These are what mhunchet attempts to negate.

For the few readers who internalise and apply what’s here, the payoff can be very lucrative.

My background

I was a poor student at school, low expectations and all that, yet I got by. For play money I worked at various after-school and vacation jobs. Pharmacies, service stations, post offices, and a foundry. Enough early experience to realise I wanted more.

I went to university and earned an engineering degree. I stayed on and earned a masters degree. I worked in various engineering roles and over time, drifted towards sales. From sales to sales management, an MBA, then general management, then the executive suite. And board roles.

Along the way, I figured out how this business thing worked. And what individuals needed to know and do to thrive in the competitive arena called commercial business.

5 things I learned

Start with these easy concepts.

  1. Business is simple. Buy stuff cheap, add some value, sell it expensive. How hard can it be?
  2. Smart work supplements hard work, it doesn’t replace it. Don’t listen to the memes, they’re wrong.
  3. People are lazy. This keeps the performance bar low enough for anyone with ambition to get ahead. Don’t be lazy, both in learning and application.
  4. Executives live with the risk that they may get outed as the fraud they think themselves to be (even of they’re not). Knowing this gives you leverage.
  5. Promotions go to those who walk, talk, act, and dress like they already have the job.

Mhunchet goes deep on these 5 (and many more). Head over to Beehiiv and subscribe if you’re curious.